Apparatus for drying cans.



N11r 823,731. PATPNTPD JUNE 19, 1901s.

v M. 1111111011. APPARATUS P011 DNYING GANs.

APPLICATION FILED MAILS, 1905.

z SHEETS-SHEET 1 Imate r y/(QWMAAT i I .rlzeg 1 11111.11 1 11111111111. 1: l l 1 1 1 11 1|11|11|1111 11111111 1111:1111111111 11 11H 1 1 1 1 1 1111 .n 1 11 111111111n Hn11111111. H 1111:1111u 111.1n1n11uu111n 1 111111111111 11111111111111211111111111 1111111111111111111 11:1 111|1 11 11 1 11 1 N 4 No. 823,731. PATENTED JUNE 19, 19.06.

' M. LEITCH.

APPARATUS FOR DRYING CANS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.G, 1905.

' provement in A uNITEDMSTAI-ES PATENT cerros. f'

MEREDITH LRITOH, or NEW YORK, NY., AssiGNOR rrO AMERIOANOAN OOMPANY,l OF Nnw YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF Nnw JERSEY'.

APPARATUS FOR DRYING. oANs.

. No. 823,731.L

specification of Letters Patent.

i Patented June 19, 190e.

` county of New York, in the State of New York, have invented a new and useful Imparatus or Machines for Drying Cans, of w ich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in apparatus or machines for drying cans after they have been tested by passing through testing-machines having a water-bath for detection of leaky cans.

' yHeretofore can-drying machines or apparatus have usually-comprised means for drying' the cans by passing over them hot air,

- the air being heated by contact with steampipes and propelled over and around the cans by a blower, or else, as in other can-drying machines, the cans have Vbeen conveyed through a tunnel having a metal bottom plate extending the length thereof and which 9 is heated by a furnace under the plate and can-drying apparatus or machine having a flue extending under'the plate the full length of the tunnel, so that thecans are heated by contact with the plate and by hot air in the tunnel.v In the first-mentioned method or apparatusthe drying of the cans is expensive in respect to fuel and the apparatus itself requires considerable attention and expense, and such devices are also obj ectionable, because they necessarilyo'ccupy a great deal of valuable'iloorspace in the' factory; "'.The second method or apparatus is also objectionable, because, the heat being applied directly to the iron bottom plateo the tunnel, the heat is diflicult of regulation and l. the bottom plate is liable at times to be heated to such a high'degree as to melt the solder on' the seams of the'cans, and thus loosen their joints and ruin the cans; 1 *Y L The object of my invention is to provide a of asimple, eflicient, Land durable construction by means of which cans maybe rapidly,f cheaply, and. perfectly dried withoutdanger of overheating them or melting the solder in their seams, and which may be suspended overvantages-incident, tothe use of can-driers head from the ceiling, and which will thus not require or take up but little, if any, of the floor-space of .the factory, and by which, in short, all the objections, difficulties, or disadheretofore known may be entirely overcome and avoided. y.

My invention consists in the means I employ to practically accomplish this object or resultthat is to say, itconsists inthe novel construction of parts and devices and in the novel combinations of herein shown or describe In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figures 1 Vand v2,' taken together, are a plan view of a can-drier or apparatus embodying my invention. Figs. 3 and 4, taken together, are a side elevationl of the same; and Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail cross-section on line 5 5 of Fig.- 1. As will be seen from said drawings, the machine or apparatus embodying -my invention comprises in cooperative combination a furnace A, in whichcoal or fuel may be burned or'consumed at a very high temperature; a steam-boiler or other means B for extracting the greatest portion of thev heat from the products of combustion and reducing the temperature of the products of combustion' to a p oint below the melting-p oint of solder, so that vthere will be no liability to melt the solder on the cans coming in contact with the can-drying plate heated by such gases or products of combustion'oflowtem erature; a can-drying cOnduitC, throughw 'ch the cans are conveyed; a can heating and drying plate D; a 'flue F, extending through and within the candrying conduit C from the boiler B to the smoke-stackB and through which iiueFthe low-'temperature gases or products of combustion from the boiler are conveyed to the smokestack B', of which flue the flat can-drying latervD forms the uplperwall; a conveyer G or conveying or regu ating the passage of the cans over the dryin -plate D; a fanor blower H for forcing a dra t of air through the candrying conduit, and suspension-rods'M, by

parts and devices.

means of which the can-'dryingiconduitO and the i'iuey F within the same are suspended from the' ceiling, so that the apparatus may 'l occupy substantially no Hoor-space Vim the factory. af .o

IOO

rlhe furnace A and boiler B may be of any; l

horizontally,but with a'slight upward' in: f

clination, and within the can-drying conduit C for the entire length thereof. The up er wall or plate D of the flue F is flat, and t us serves as a can heating and drying plate, along which the cans are conveyed or rolled in the can-drying conduit C. The plate D is provided with upright flanges d at its edges, thus forming side guides for the can track or plate, over which the cans are conveyed or rolled, and is securely united to the U-shaped shell or plate f of the flue F by rivets f, which extend also through an angle plate or bar d, which thus forms and serves as a track for the can-conveyer G. The can-drying conduit C surrounds the flue F and is preferably of similar shape in cross-section, it having a fiat top plate C furnished with depending fianges c, and it is united to the upper edges of the conduit shell or plate c by rivets c2 and angle-plates c3. The conduit C is provided with a number of longitudinal separator or partition plates C2, dividing the conduit above the heater-plate D into a series of parallel passages or runways C3 for the cans, so that a number of rows of cans may be simultaneously passed through the conduit over and in contact with the heater-plate. These partitions or separator-plates C2 are preferably adjustably secured in place by cross-rods C1 and spacer sleeves or thimbles C5, so that by using spacer sleeves orvthimbles of different lengths the separator-plates C2 may be placed closer together or farther apart, as maybe required, for operating upon cans of diierent sizes. Stays or cross bolts or pins f2, having thimbles f3, extend between the shells c of the conduit and f of the Hue, thus supporting and bracing the one from the other. At their bottom portions the conduit-shell c and flue-shell f may, if desired, Contact with each other. The conduit C is furnished with angle plates or brackets C, to which the suspension-rods M are connected and by which the conduit C is suspended overhead from the ceiling X, so that the conduit and the parts contained therein may occupy no floor-space in the factory.

The can-conveyer G is an endless flexible one, preferably consisting of a chain provided with cross-bars g to engage the cans, the same traveling on the track f and assing around pulleys or sprocket-wheels G2, the shaft g of one of the sprocket-wheels G being furnished with a driving-pulley G3, through which motion is communicated to the conveyer through any suitable source of power. The conveyer G enters the dryingconduit C at an opening C7 therein, at which the lower s rocket-wheel G2 is mounted. The conveyer G) issues from the conduit C at an o ening C8 therein in its lowermost end. At t e u per end or ,portion ofthe horizontal or slight y-inclined flue F near Where the same communicates with the smoke-stack B', I

provide a fan or blower Il to aid in drawing or forcing the hot but low-temperature products of combustion through the iiue F. The shaft L of this fan or blower is furnished 'with a driving-pulley H for driving the same.

N N are the inclined runways by which the cans to be dried are delivered into the conduit of the drier in position to be engaged b y the cross-bars of the can-conveyer, and P is the discharge chute or runway at the discharge end of the conduit for discharging the cans therefrom.

As in my invention the cans are dried by utilization of the waste heat from the furnace and boiler used for supplying heat or iower for other purposes, I am enabled to do thc work of drying the cans at a very small fuel cost, while at the same time, as the temperature of the gases or products of combustion issuing from the furnace is reduced by the boiler below the melting-point of solder before the same act upon the can-drying plate D of the long iiue F, I entirely avoid all danger of melting the solder on the cans or injuring the cans in the drying operation, and as in my invention the cans are dried by direct contact with the hot plate D, as well as by the heated air in the drying-conduit C, the vcans may be very quickly, rapidly, and cheaply dried, and the conduit does not require, forV this reason, to be of very great length, and for this reason also my drying apparatus may be very cheaply constructed.

I claiml. In a can-drying apparatus, the combination with a furnace a smoke-stack and a boiler, of a can-drying conduit, a flue extending within and through said conduit from the boiler to the smoke-stack, and having a fiat can heating and drying plate for its upper wall, an endless flexible can-conveyer, having its lower run entering said conduit at one end thereof and extending through said conduit over said can heating and drying plate for conveying the cans over the plate and through the conduit and having its upper run extendng above said conduit, substantially as speci- 2. In a can-drying apparatus, the combi,- nation with a furnace a smoke-stack and a boiler, of a can-drying conduit, a fiue extending within and through said conduit from the boiler to the smoke-stack, and having a flat can heating and drying plate for its upper wall, an endless flexible can-conveyer, having its lower run entering said conduit at one end thereof and extending through said conduit over said can heating and drying plate for conveying the cans over the plate and through the conduit and having its upper run extending above said conduit, and a fan or blower in said iiue, substantially as specified.

3. In a can-drying apparatus, the combination with a furnace a smoke-stack and a boiler, of a can-drying conduit, a fiue extend- IOO / saar/3i ing Within and through said conduit from the boiler to the smoke-stack, and having a flat can heating and drying plate for its upper can heating and drying plate for its upper A Wall, an endless flexible can-conveyer,.hav ing its lower run entering said conduit at one end thereof and extending through said vconduit over said can heating and drying plate for conveying the cans over the plate and through the conduit and having its upper run extending above said conduit, and suspensionrods for suspending said conduit overhead from the ceiling, substantially as specified.

5. In a can-drying apparatus, the combination With a furnace a smoke-stack and a boiler, of a can-drying conduit, a flue extending Within and through said conduit from the vboiler to the smoke-stack, andhaving a flat can heating and drying plate for its upper Wall, a can-conveyerextending through lsaid conduit over said can heating and drying plate'for conveying the cans over the plate and through the conduit, said conduit being furnished with longitudinal separator or partition plates dividing the space in the conduit above said can heating and drying plate into a plurality of parallel can-conveyers, and

can-runways for delivering the cans to be dried into said conduit and onto said drying-- plate, substantially as specified.

.6. In a can-drying apparatus, the combination with a can-drying conduit, of a flue extending Within and through said conduit, having a flat upper plate or Wall over Which the cans may be conveyed or rolled, an endless flexible can-conveyer having its loWer end entering said conduit at one end thereof and extending through said conduit over said flat upper plate of said flue for conveying the cans over said plate and through the conduit, said conveyer having its upper run extending above and outside the conduit and means for suspending said conduit overhead from Y the ceiling, substantially as specified.

7. In a can-drying apparatus, the combination With a can-drying conduit, of a flue extending Within and through said conduit, having a fiat upper plate or Wall yover which the cans may be conveyed or rolled, a canconveyer extending through said conduit over` said flat plate, and longitudinal separator-plates forming separate can-runways over said plate, substantially as specified.

8. In a can-drying apparatus, the combination With a can-drying conduit, of a fiue extending Within and through said conduit, having a flat upper plate or Wall over which the `cans may be conveyed or rolled, a canconveyer extending through said conduit over said flat plateand laterally-adjustable longitudinally extending separator plates above said fiat can-drying plate to form a plurality of can-runways thereon, substantially as specified.

f MEREDITI-I LEI'ICH.

`Witnesses: Y

LEMUEL A. WELLES, W. I. PALMER. 

